The snow man

I only noticed this snow man this morning! I loved it but it was already falling apart...

My tram couldn't drive all the way to the station so I walked the last bit. I found out why when I got to the station; an earlier tram (actually the one I should've had) had de-railed!

I got to see my soon-to-be new work place. Our office is rapidly becoming too small so my division is moving out because we are so specialllll. ;-)

I'll be sitting on the closest corner there on the left. And my big plant will be in the middle at the front :-)

The Vondel park walk

I woke up a bit early today, 8:15 it was. I looked outside and it had snowed yet again! I thought I'd take my chance to get some nice photos so I got dressed and walked over to the Vondel park which is close to where I live.

Here are some of the photos I took:

I walked for about 2 hours I think. When I came home it had just began melting. I was happy i went out early :-)

My little oak tree is quite happy as well! It's making lots of little leaves.

My house looks nice but I need to really wash my windows again soon...

I'm growing a few new plants again.

The white canals

I walked through town today. Did feel like doing much. I made some pictures of the snowy white canals. Hope you like them.

The yucky snow

Who says snow is pretty? This sucks. And it's fucking cold. No like!

Walking home... in the bloody snow.

The psycho Cowboy covered in snow.

In the evening I caught the tram to the hospital to go see Nantko. He was worse...

I cooked when I came home. Couldn't really focus on anything after visiting Nantko...

The snow edition

It snowed during the night. There was about 5cm when i left the house this morning.

It's always a bit exciting. Those first 2 minutes anyway ;-)

It was still snowing hard.

In front of Central Station.

Central station.

On the ferry.

Waiting for the mini-van to take me and colleagues to work.

Some moron thought it was a great idea to ride a bicycle. Not any bicycle a racing bike with tiny thin tyres...

Snowy plains on the way home.

No nuking allowed by dogs!

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No nuking allowed by dogs!

My back yard covered in snow.

The front was also covered in snow. Since I'm a good citizen I keep "my" sidewalk clean.

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My street. I went for a walk to make some photos around the hood.

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Swan. Possibly the same as yesterday's.

Visiting the family

We got a bit more snow overnight and in the morning. Everything was covered by a pretty white coat.

I had to go to Alkmaar. This involves public transport. Now, when it comes to public transport, the Netherlands is sometimes a bit of a third world country, especially when a few snowflakes come down.

I managed to catch a tram, that was good. No, great. Because soon tram-shit would hit the fan, I later found out.

Behind the palace.

Magna Plaza.

I didn't have to rush for a train because the first two I got on weren't leaving and the third left 15 minutes late. But eventually it started rolling. However, 1 minute after leaving the station it was announced that more switches were frozen AND there was a broken down train further ahead. Therefore we were re-routed and ETA was pushed forward 30-60 minutes. Grand.

But I was in a good mood and it was warm in the train and I had a nice seat and I was thinking of my first stop so no worries.

(click to enlarge - so you can see prizes and realise this is not children's toys ;-)
This was my first stop you see. Huider model railroad shop in Heerhugowaard. I'll show you my purchase later on ;-)

There were funny patterns on the floor in the train. Dried up salty sludge.

At my parent's place it was nice and warm and after coffee we played monopoly. I didn't land on a lot of available property so I wasn't able to buy much.

To make matters worse I landed on "Income tax, pay f200" 4 times in a row meaning I missed out on my "When you pass 'start' you get f200" 4 times! That joke put me f800 behind everyone else!!!

My dad at some point was a gigantic pain in the arse, mainly Ilse's... She not amused and threatened to leave the table. My mom not amused in turn and burned down my dad. After 5 more turns of us showing great patience he buckled.

Nevertheless I blame my incredibly unfortunate start for my early bankruptcy.

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So, this was my model railroad purchase. A Dutch railways (NS) 1301 e-locomotive. A model I've wanted to add to my collection for a long time but simple wasn't being manufactured in 1:160.

Dinner time! All was peaceful again in the house of Koopman. That's what food does to us I guess.

My mom had bought a very nice selection of food that we could prepare ourselves in little pans. It was fun and lovely. I had a great day :-)